Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller, a gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate game play. These steps require the gaming machine to control input devices, such as bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices, including key pads, button pads, card readers, and ticket readers, to determine the wager amount, and initiate game play. After game play has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the game. The operations described above may be carried out on the gaming machine when the gaming machine is operating as a “stand alone” unit or linked in a network of some type to a group of gaming machines.
As technology in the gaming industry progresses, more and more gaming services are being provided to gaming machines via communication networks that link groups of gaming machines to a remote computer, such as a host server, that provides one or more gaming services. As an example, gaming services that may be provided by a remote computer to a gaming machine via a communication network of some type include player tracking, accounting, cashless award ticketing, lottery, progressive games, and bonus games or prizes. These services and features are provided in addition to the games that are available for play on the gaming machines.
The present invention is primarily directed to methods and devices for implementing progressive jackpot prize winning modes, referred to herein as “progressive systems.” In a progressive system, a plurality of gaming machines are linked together. A percentage of game play on each gaming machine is used to determine a progressive jackpot value. The progressive jackpot value is typically determined by a central server in communication with each of the linked gaming machines. The central server updates the progressive jackpot value as it receives information regarding game play on the linked gaming machines and broadcasts this progressive jackpot value to the linked gaming machines.
The progressive jackpot value usually begins at some pre-defined value and continually increases until a win or a hit occurs at one of the linked gaming machines in the progressive system. After a win, the progressive jackpot is paid out at the machine showing the hit jackpot and the system resets to the pre-defined value and begins incrementing again. This procedure then repeats as jackpots are won and game play continues.
One type of progressive system links gaming machines spread out over many locations, such as gaming machines in stores, casinos and airports distributed throughout the state of Nevada. This type of system is typically referred to as a “wide area progressive” (WAP) system and a jackpot on this type of system is referred to as a wide area progressive (WAP) jackpot. A WAP system can link thousands of gaming machines and the WAP jackpot can reach values that are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars.
In Nevada, there are many different WAP systems. The WAP systems are independent of one another such that a gaming machine is hooked to only one WAP system at any one time. Thus, a gaming machine hooked to a particular WAP system is allowed to provide only the progressive jackpots that are available on its system.
Progressive systems have proven to be popular with players of gaming machines and to increase levels of play, particularly when the progressive jackpot becomes large. However, a progressive jackpot, and in particular a wide area progressive jackpot, is typically associated with a particular game of chance, theme game denomination and network. On a gaming machine, to switch between wide area progressive jackpots, the gaming machine must be physically connected to a new network, programmed with new software and possibly physically altered to change the art work. This process is time consuming and a deterrent to offering progressive jackpot services desired by both casinos and players. It would be desirable to provide novel progressive systems and methods that address these and other limitations of the prior art.